The Secret Life of Us

I loved the first 3 series. Series 4 was a disappointment. It felt like a different show as most of the original characters were gone.

I started watching this series when I lived in Sydney and enjoyed it for it's perky yet unsweetened style. I enjoyed the characters played by Claudia Karvan, Samuel Johnson, Deborah Mailman and Abi Tucker and the clever "diary reading" story telling style but most of all I enjoyed the way it portrayed the environment. :-)

Everyone knows it's never that hot in Melbourne ;-) but apart from that the series still captures the 'essence' of life as a 20-30-something in Australia's main cities.

I missed the series so much when I moved back to Sweden that I had to buy it on DVD, and whenever I miss my home away from home too much I watch an episode to get a hit of "stralianisms".

Enjoy!

Much of my review will touch on points that have already been stated. The first two seasons are good, but by the end of the third season much of the key cast were absent or only turning up for minor appearances. The formula that made the first two season enjoyable were lost in part by this.

Season Four introduces a whole new set of characters that seem so far removed from the first season and feels like Home and Away or Neighbours cast. I had this recollection again after watching this on Netflix recently as to why I stopped watching the show originally.

I really used to enjoy 'The Secret Life of Us', it was realistic. and the characters, were interesting, complex and likable, ( with the exception of 'Ritchie'). I loved the first series, but it slowly went down hill. When it came back at the beginning of 2004, I was devastated to discover that some of my favourite characters had disappeared. I felt ripped off. I stopped watching the show after that first night, these new characters were boring and annoying. Especially the young

character 'Brooke'. I wasn't at all surprised the show was axed, in fact I was pleased, I was irritated that they expected me to just forget and dismiss all the old characters, with no explanation of where they went, or at least what

happened to them...

I first started watching SLOU on UK TV when it was billed as an Aussie version of the UK series 'This Life' (highly recommended, also). I was instantly hooked. Loved series 1. Was waiting for series on C4 in UK but it never seemed to come. In 2002 I caught the first showings of series 2 in Aus and was gutted that I could only see a couple of episodes. I waited even longer. Eventually, back in the UK, they showed series 2 - at 12:30 am!! What's going on?! Series 3 never aired in the UK, and I bought the DVDs and had them mailed from Aus. Bottom line is this - it's an excellent series that was poorly misrepresented in the UK. I just love to chat to Aussies about the show (before it turned poo in series 4) and will always recommend it to people. One of the best dramas and a great reminder of my time in Aus (and particularly St Kilda)